Page 289 - Crisis in Higher Education

260 • Crisis in Higher Education

three primary components: basic education and skills, apprenticeship,
and continuous improvement.

1. Basic education and skills: The process begins with the PhD pro-
gram and applies to all students who are pursuing tenured faculty
positions.
a. Language assessment: Many students in PhD programs, espe-
cially science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and quan-
titative areas in business, are born and educated outside of the
United States, so English is not their primary language. For these
students, admission to graduate schools requires reaching a cer-
tain score on the test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL).
This test measures students’ ability to listen, read, speak, and
write English at the university level. Many people believe that
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the TOEFL does not effectively assess the ability to communicate
verbally with undergraduate students. A process to assess and
improve this ability should be developed and applied before PhD
teaching assistants are assigned to teach stand-alone courses,
problem sessions, or labs.
b. Teaching assessment: Pedagogy and assessment skills are evalu-
ated, and all PhD students lacking these skills are required to
take appropriate courses and seminars before teaching.
c. Mentor: PhD students are assigned teaching mentors, who can
advise and counsel them, including sending them to master
teachers or centers for teaching.
d. Teaching assignments: All PhD students seeking tenured faculty
positions are assigned to teach stand-alone courses. Their perfor-
mance is monitored and feedback is provided.
2. Apprenticeship: Borrowing a term from the skilled trades, this takes
place when a newly minted PhD is hired for a tenure-track faculty
position and ends when tenure is awarded.
a. Initial assessment: During the hiring process, faculty candidates
are required to make an instructional presentation that could
be delivered in an undergraduate course as well as the usual
research presentation. These presentations are key factors in the
hiring decision.
b. Master teacher: Master teachers assess strengths and weaknesses of
newly hired faculty and develop a plan to improve their teaching
abilities.